Auditor General Alexis Kamuhire is set to present his report of State finances and assets for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2023, to Parliament, on Wednesday afternoon, April 24. The practice is in line with Article 167 of the Constitution of Rwanda which provides that the Office of the Auditor General of State Finances submits each year, to both Chambers of Parliament, prior to the commencement of the session devoted to the examination of the State budget of the following year, a complete report on the balance sheet of the State budget of the previous year. The report also indicates the manner in which the budget was executed, unnecessary or unlawful expenditures, and whether there was embezzlement or squandering of public funds. Within six months of receiving the report, the Parliament must examine it and take appropriate decisions. The Auditor General’s recent report – for the financial year ended on June 30, 2022, exposed, among others, 55 cases of delayed project contracts worth more than Rwf644 billion, which is over three times in terms of monetary value compared to the cases recorded in the previous year. The delays ranged from 30 days to four years. ALSO READ: 10 key highlights from Auditor General’s report It also revealed different cases of unlawful expenditure totalling more than Rwf6.4 billion, which is double the Rwf3.2 billion recorded in the previous year. They included partially supported expenditure (Rwf644 million), wasteful expenditure (over Rwf2.4 billion), overpayment (Rwf3 billion), and funds diverted (fraud) amounting to Rwf169 million. The Auditor General recommended that there was a need for Chief Budget Managers to put in place strong internal controls to avoid increasing unlawful expenditure.
